I live and work in the beautiful resort and golf communities near the Palm Springs area of California- particularly in the La Quinta neighborhoods. We are blessed with incredibly beautiful views and homes, and with the economy and market improving… the baby-boomers are back and ready to find their perfect second home.

Today I showed homes to a couple from LA in the PGA West neighborhood of Palmer Private. Half of the homes in their price range had bedrooms upstairs, and some had stairs as you entered, and the full condo on the second floor.

I don’t encourage buyers to buy homes with stairs because:

Number 1: They are difficult to sell in our market

Number 2: As we age, stairs become an issue.

Number 3: They are difficult to sell in our market.

This couple seem very open to the idea of a condo with stairs. They are my age, (late forties-early fifties), and probably never had an ankle injury (crutches) or knee surgery. They still think stairs are fun, (and great exercise!)

With the average age of second home buyers in their mid to late sixties… no wonder the condos and homes with stairs are a tough sell. There are many options without stairs… that will be much more marketable down the road. As builders wised up to the older buyer here, they focused on single level structures.

The views may be fabulous… but should I tell them NOT to buy a home with stairs?

Days on the market or DOM can be a good indicator of the saleability of a current listing. Even better is the Cumulative Days on the Market or CDOM.

Cumulative Days on the Market quantifies how many days a listing as been on the market with the current agent. Many times I see agents cancel a listing and “re-list” them to reduce the DOM number. But saavy agents know that the CDOM is much more important. If you see a home with:

3/441 in the DOM/CDOM column, you know that the agent has opted to “reset” the clock.

If your listing has been on the market for over 30 days without an offer in our current market- you probably have an overpriced listing. Find an agent who knows your neighborhood, and your market– and can support the price with comps. (Meaning actual recent sale values.)

If you contact me regarding selling your desert home- and I am not the expert for your area… I will help you find the best agent for your neighborhood.

Poor Strategy:This strategy revolves around pricing a property to satisfy a seller’s ego. There’s simply no easy way to say this. Highballers are agents who will give into a seller’s ego and price a property above market value just to have a listing. These properties tend to sit on the market indefinitely or will sell once the seller finally realizes that the price they want to sell the property for has nothing to do with how much the property is worth. Some sellers will argue that because they bought the house for $700,000 and because they have it listed for $600,000, it must be a deal. Well, not if the real estate cycle and comparables sales comparatively state that the market value for that particular property is $500,000.Curious what your home’s real market value is? Give me a call! Kathy Schowe 760-333-8886

Preview, PREVIEW, preVIEW, and PREview!

Years ago when I started in real estate I worked with a broker who “suggested” that we go look at 10 homes a day. I thought that was a bit much… but I get it now. She was absolutely right!

There is no better way to ramp up your game, start real estate conversations, deepen your local knowledge, and become the neighborhood expert than to PREVIEW, preview, Preview, and then preVIEW all the homes in your area of concentration.

Although I have played all 9 of the golf courses at La Quinta Resort and PGA West, I have not been inside homes in all of the neighborhoods. PGA West has over 5000 homes alone! My job right now is to go see houses… everyday.
Our Schowe Properties team has been previewing daily in 100*+ weather…but it is so important. I will be prepared for my first floor time on August 1st, and I will KNOW these homes! This won’t be the end… because we still will need to preview, Preview, PREVIEW, and then preVIEW some more!

Palm Springs is known for it’s iconic mid-century architecture and the Palm Springs Modern Committee has found a way to easily share the Mid-Century experience with a new Guided Tour Mobile App.

FEATURES:

Guided tours of 80+ mid-century landmarks in Palm Springs, California

Intimate profiles of 12 leading architects

Tour by location, architect, or create your own custom tour

Video access to interiors and exteriors of premier properties

New & historic images, including Julius Shulman photography

Written and narrated by top architectural historians and experts

Available on iTunes for $4.99

PLEASE NOTE:

This application contains embedded high-quality video, photo, and audio content. Because of the large size, download time take up to 45 minutes based on your internet connection speed. You will need a WiFi connection to download the app to your device. Once on device, “checking for updates” may take an additional five minutes.

Multiple offers are common right now in many markets. Here in the desert we encounter them in the competitive investors markets (fixers under $150,000) and at popular affordable price points ( under $300,000). Knowing how to write an offer that will get noticed and accepted comes with experience in writing and submitting many offers. Last year I wrote over 60 offers for investors and other buyers.

Make sure your agent has experience working in multiple offer situations!

1. If you talk to the homeowners and attempt to build rapport you will have a higher likelihood of winning your bid.

Odds are you won’t offend the Seller too much if you try and hold a simple and quick conversation while viewing their home. Unfortunately not all Buyers and Buyers Agents have the ability to keep their mouths shut when it matters the most. Some Agents and Buyers lead into conversations that they shouldn’t be having. Before you know you it, you’ve offended, annoyed or made the Sellers uncomfortable. Something as simple as talking about your Alma Mater or a recent vacation to a communist country could prove to be disastrous. Keep pleasantries simple and kind. There’s no need to discuss the origen of Oriental rugs and how sweatshops in Cambodia are the reason our economy isn’t doing better especially since “you know who is in office.” And the Texas Aggies hate the Longhorns.

2. If I submit a kind letter about the house about how wonderfully it’s been kept I’ll hit a soft spot with the sellers.

Not necessarily true. It’s not even a matter of fact that this letter will even accompany the offer to the Seller. If a letter is attached to the offer in attempt to emotionally sway the Seller then the Listing Agent will likely forewarn a Seller about its intent. This could lead to slight resentment by both the Seller and Listing agent. It happens. Not everyone will bend or appreciate flattery while negotiating on such a large investment.

3. Cash is King. I will win the bid because I have cash. I’m awesome.

You might be awesome, but using cash won’t get you the keys to the city. It may not even get you keys to the house. First, it’s critical you have liquid cash, not money tied up in an investment account. Your money better be local and not tied up in another country waiting to be delayed and messed with by red tape, The Patriot Act and who knows what else. Someone with a Conventional Loan could easily topple your cash offer, especially if they are more willing to bend on “terms.” Perhaps the buyer with a conventional loan offered a leaseback to the Seller even though they didn’t ask for one. Hmmm…. many people don’t think about that, but he who asks first, usually wins. It helps to offer conditions to the Seller before they have asked themselves. Sadly, some Listing Agents don’t think about a Seller Leaseback until a week before closing. Perhaps a buyer with a conventional loan has offered to clear up inspections within 3 days instead of 10. TERMS and CASH can be King.

4. My kids go to school with the sellers and we both are Dallas Cowboys fans. I used to play golf with the Sellers and they like me.

None of this matters. It may not even matter that you are related. When it comes to money you can fuggedaboudit.

5. The Listing Agent is with RE/MAX and my Buyer’s Agent is with RE/MAX…. surely they’ll make this happen since RE/MAX gets all the commission.

It doesn’t matter. Each office is independently owned and operated. ME, MYSELF and I get my cut. My Broker/Owner get’s her cut. It doesn’t matter if another RE/MAX office is involved or not. RE/MAX itself isn’t getting paid anymore or any less.

The information contained in this blog is believed to be reliable and while every effort is made to assure that the information is as accurate as possible, the author of this blog, and its comments disclaim any implied warranty or representation about it’s accuracy, completeness or appropriateness for any particular purpose. All information is copywritten and the property of Greg Nino.